Travelling to Tohoku region for Autumn

Hi,
I'm planning family trip (4 adults 1 child) to go Tohoku region for autumn for 11 days trip and fly to Haneda Airport.

The date in my mind after being reading the autumn report is from 10-Oct to 28-Oct, yet to finalize the date.

1. Plan to do round trip but not sure the place to use as base.
2. Wanted to mix the transport of train and self drive. Any places for self drive?
3. Ropeway must not missed?
4. Going to Lake Towada by driving or train, any recommendation?

I stayed at Aomori as the base last autumn. I suggest to use either Aomori or Hirosaki as the base and stay 1 night at Lake Towada. The walk along Oirase stream should not be missed! Your date of travel should be fine. I was there from 29 October and most leaves had fallen. Don't forget to visit Kakunodate and Momijiyama. If possible, stay few days around Miyagi prefecture, not to miss Naruko gorge and Yamadera.

If you can drive, I think it's one of the better way to explore Tohoku as public transportation is not too straight forward to the attraction sites. Lake Towada is usually best reached using JR Bus. The road is quite long, winding, and quiet, but that was around 7pm when I took a taxi to Shichinohe, the nearest shinkansen station.

Hope this helps.

I've done a 4 days self-driven tour around the World Heritage Site Shirakami-Sanchi in Mid-October. The photos on my blog post doesn't justify the beauty of the Autumn colors which we saw, but this was an amazing trip and very remote.

http://worldheritage.ahv.dk/shirakami-sanchi

Great and many thanks for the excellent tips.

I just confirmed the travel date going to Aomori on 21-Oct and planning to rent a car. Reason after Aomori, I will drive around Fuji, Nikko and etc for autumn viewing.

Moccy, hope my time there can still catch some last autumn leave. Just to check, is there any proper trek for walking along the Oirase Stream? I'm travelling with family and 3 yrs old boy.

What is the temperature like during the time?